De Blasio agrees to debate his long-shot primary foes

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that he would face his little-known Democratic primary rivals before the polls open on September 12—even if they haven't raised or spent enough to qualify under city Campaign Finance Board rules.

"If anyone qualifies under the CFB system besides myself, we will certainly follow those rules, happily," he told reporters. "But I wanted to make clear that if no one qualified, I'd still be willing to have a debate, and I wanted to put that out there."

The mayor first made the announcement on Twitter, and elaborated on his reasoning at an unrelated press conference at One Police Plaza. At present, only one of his three rivals—former Brooklyn Councilman Sal Albanese—claims he will have amassed and expended the $4,356 the CFB requires by the August 11 filing deadline to make the debate.

"Regardless of the CFB requirements, I'll be on a debate stage before the Sept 12th primary," de Blasio's campaign account tweeted.

Also challenging de Blasio on the Democratic line are police reform activist Robert Gangi and attorney Richard Bashner. The mayor had cited Albanese and Gangi's campaigns in his appeal to the CFB for nearly $3 million in public money under the city's matching funds program, which obligates applying candidates to demonstrate they face a serious contest.

But the mayor maintained that his application, and the subsequent media scrutiny of it, had nothing to do with his decision to meet his opponents at a forum. De Blasio insisted instead that it was a matter of "principle"—even though he had previously indicated that he would only debate a primary opponent if they hit the board's thresholds.

Shortly after the press conference ended, the Campaign Finance Board agreed to grant the mayor's campaign $2.6 million in public funds.

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